A wide-ranging and valuable collection of essays written by a pioneering historian of tropical forestry—this book is an attempt to trace Indian forest history from the colonial era to its post-Independence legacy. The book highlights analytically the evolution of forest policy at the national level, in counterpoint with management at the provincial and local levels, mostly in the Himalayan region. It brings out two main strains of conflict that characterise the evolution of professional forestry in India—the tension between the subsistence needs of the local population and the commercial needs of the colonial state; and the clash between the forest department, which sought to preserve the forests, and the revenue department, which was driven by the need to expand agriculture and industry. Some of the included pieces are among the first environmental history studies in India.

Richard P. Tucker is Adjunct Professor of World Environmental History, University of Michigan, USA.